This past Sunday, in Sacramento at Columnes Junior College and in a near-100 degree heat, the 1998 San Francisco Elite Academy Boys claimed our program's first state championship by winning the U19 NorCal State Cup gold title against Diablo FC.

The 1998 Boys started the match slow, eventually allowing a Diablo FC goal that led to a 0-1 deficit within 15 minutes. Shortly thereafter, the 1998 Boys gained their rhythm and began to dominate the remainder of the first half. And, importantly, the SFEA boys were able to equalize in the 28th minute on a goal by Toshi Hensley.

After the halftime break and a few tactical adjustments from SFEA coach Tom Atencio, the 1998 Boys dominated both possession and shots, yet after 45 more minutes of play had no goals to show for it. The subsequent two, five-minute overtime periods saw both teams creating opportunities but still no goal to end the game.

The game would be decided with penalty kicks with SFEA shooting first. SFEA's Joey Galvez, Hermino Umanzor, and Greyson Gebhard Young all scored their kicks, respectively. And while Diablo FC had answered with two successful penalties of their own, on their third kick SFEA 1998 Boys goalkeeper Parker Whitcomb saved. After SFEA's Shayan Charlaghi scored to make the penalty kicks 4-2, in favor or SFEA, Parker came up big again, making yet another save and insuring the victory for the 1998 boys team.

The entire SF Elite Academy would like to congratulate the 1998 Boys and head coach Tom Atencio on this tremendous accomplishment!

Last weekend in Davis, the SF Elite Academy 98 Boys NPL team had a very good game in the semis finals of the Norcal State Cup's gold bracket against Clovis Crossfire 98 Blue.

Joey Galvez got the team going with two goals in the first 10 minutes. Greyson Young followed in the 21st minute to push SFEA's command of the match to 3-0. While Clovis scored a goal just before halftime to make the score 3-1, SFEA came out fast in the second half and created many scoring opportunities, which didn't lead to a goal but kept Clovis on the back foot. Finally, in the 89th minute, Clovis scored on a corner kick but the referee blew the final whistle shortly after and the SFEA 98 Boys were on to the final.

Tomorrow, at Cosumnes River College, just south of Sacramento, the SFEA 1998 Boys will be playing for our program's first State Cup winner's trophy. We will let everyone know how the match turns out and we wish the team and head coach, Tom Atencio, the best of luck!

The Academy would like to congratulate the 1998 Boys NPL, 2000 Boys NPL, and 2001 Boys NPL teams for reaching the semi-final round of this year's NorCal State Cup in the second highest division of play (Gold Cup for the 1998 and 2000s and Premier Cup for 2001s). Each of the three boys teams posted impressive quarter final wins, and will return this weekend to try to punch their place in the final!

The Academy is both thrilled and honored to be sending five of its teams—the 1998 Boys, 2000 Boys, 2001 Boys, 2002 Boys and 2001 Girls—to one of the premier soccer showcases in the United States, the 2016 Surf College Cup Showcase!

The Surf College Cup will be played November 25-27th in San Diego, California. It ranks among the top tournaments nationally, and offers a unique opportunity for elite teams around the country to compete and for players to be seen by college and professional scouts. This year’s tournament excepts to feature 220 teams for a field of over 600 applicants. There will be teams from 16 states and 6 countries, as well as over 150 college coaches and scouts on hand to identify soccer talent

The Academy views the acceptance of so many of our teams as part of our commitment to provide San Francisco’s top players an elite player path that had been previously impossible without leaving for programs outside the city.

Congratulations and good luck to our Academy players and teams in San Diego.

The SF Elite Academy

Our mission is to provide an elite level program for soccer players in San Francisco.